


A Hobbit's Yule

by fae_of_the_rose



Series: Advent [4]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Family, Holidays, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 14:10:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5542841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fae_of_the_rose/pseuds/fae_of_the_rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one was really surprised when a wagon of Dwarves went over the hill and towards Bag End. Dwarves were always in Bag End anymore.</p>
<p>Even on Yule.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Hobbit's Yule

The gossip mill in Hobbiton had finally begun to die down around the end Foreyule, only for it to kick up again not two days before Yuletide began. Dwarves were back in the Shire, they said, and they all knew what that meant. 

“Honestly, you’d have thought that bringing one home and declaring himself _married_ would have been enough of a scandal,” Goody Hornblower had murmured to Gammer Boffin when a cart carrying three Dwarves and goodness knew what else drove past their shared fence. “Now he’s got to have them traipsin’ all over the Hill? At _Yule_?”

The old Hobbit just shrugged, watching the cart go. “You know what they say. Goin’ ‘way makes you come back all queer, if’n you come back at all. As long as I ain’t got to feed ‘em, I say let Mad Baggins have his Dwarves.”

It was hard to argue with that logic, and the two friends moved on to better topics.

The cart made its way up to Bag End, the third and final one Bilbo was expecting (not that the neighbors knew or cared). Once there, the pony was led off, the trunks and boxes and barrels were unloaded, and the Dwarves shown inside.

“Sorry we’re late!” Bofur picked Bilbo up in a hug as the Hobbit came out of the kitchen to greet them. “Bombur took a wrong turn in Bree, nearly ended up in Archet!”

“I did not do any such thing, _you_ wanted to sample all the beer in the town an’ nearly got us kicked out! Had to take the long way ‘round.” Bombur patted Bilbo’s shoulder and bustled off to the kitchen. It would be quieter in there and the poor man had never done well in crowds.

Ironic, considering how many children he had, but then again that was _his_ crowd.

“Yes, I figured it was something of that sort, Bofur would you _please_ put me down I have mulled wine to tend to on the stove and I will tell Dori who to blame if it is ruined, don’t think I won’t.”

The threat of an angry Dori was enough to get Bofur to let go, even adjusting Bilbo’s waistcoat for him before traipsing off to harass someone else. Probably Glóin. There was just something about the banker that made him so easy to harass and rile up. Even Balin got in on it, provided he had enough wine in him. But Bilbo had mulled wine to tend to, so he couldn’t go and watch.

Bombur was already making himself at home in the kitchen, finishing up what dishes Bilbo had left undone and setting them aside for the lads to bring to the table. “The family sends their wishes, an’ want to know when you and his Highness will be visitin’ again,” he said as Bilbo returned to his wine. “The little ones loved you.”

“Most do, though I can’t imagine why.” He took a taste of the wine. Not nearly sweet enough, thank goodness the lads had thought to stop by Beorn’s for Bilbo’s honey order. “They’re good listeners, if the story is interesting, but I don’t like them running around. Far too messy, sticky hands everywhere and mud all in the carpet…rather like Dwarves, actually.”

His companion just chuckled and silence fell over the kitchen. That’s what Bilbo liked about Bombur. He was friendly and kind, but he knew when talking was wanted and when it wasn’t.

“Bilbo! Bilbo, where’s—Bilbo!” Kíli came skidding into the kitchen, cheeks red from the cold. “Bilbo, you didn’t tell me you had _kittens!_ ”

He sighed. “That’s because I don’t, Kíli. Garnet is just a stray who’s taken a liking to my garden shed, I don’t own her.”

“But _kittens_ , Bilbo. I’ve never seen anything so tiny!”

“Try looking in a mirror with your trousers—”

“Fíli don’t you _dare_ finish that sentence!” Bilbo spun around, waving his spoon at the two of them. “I am in contact with your mother, you know, and do you think she’d like to hear that her son and King to Be was being crass when he was a guest in someone else’s house?”

Fíli just grinned and reached around Kíli to start taking dishes out. “Not a guest when you’re family, Bilbo! Here, Kee, you get those pies.”

“What, afraid the apples’ll come out of the pie and bite you?”

The bickering continued as the boys headed out, and Bilbo was only stopped from beating his brains out with his wooden spoon by the timely arrival of a chuckling Thorin who took it away.

“They are _your_ nephews, you know. I don’t know why you’re laughing. Taste that wine, tell me what you think.”

“Do Hobbits not have…in-laws, I believe is the Westron term for it?” He tried the wine, nodding.

“We do, yes, but they are still entirely your nephews. I am an uncle by marriage, not blood, and as I am not even a Dwarf you can’t claim that I’m distantly related to them at all!” It was an old and empty argument, only brought out when Bilbo’s already frayed nerves were worn even thinner by the lads and their antics. “I think Kíli wants a kitten, by the way.”

Thorin sighed and began to get down the mugs for the wine as Bilbo took down the plates. Bombur quietly stepped out, taking the plates with him. “Of course he does. If it is cute and possibly dangerous, Kíli will love it. We had to talk him out of a wolf pup as a child.”

“Oh, is that why you insisted on getting that wool one in the Yule-market last week?” 

There was the faintest hint of a smile floating around Thorin’s lips. “No. I insisted on that because it will be humorous when he opens the package.”

“You realize that’s something he would do, yes?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Thorin headed out into the dining room, now once again full of twelve Dwarves (though missing a Wizard). Bilbo just shook his head.

**Author's Note:**

> And the last of the Advent fics! Happy holidays to everyone reading this and thank you!


End file.
